It’s pretty much safe to say that when it comes to pets and the whole who rescued who argument, cats tend to get the short end of the stick. When it comes to Josh and Scout, though, there’s no questioning that a kitten truly does have the power to save.

When Army Sgt. Josh Marino met his buddy Scout, something in him changed for the better. Like many servicemen and women coming home from war, Josh suffered through learning how to cope with the torment of the traumatic duties he left behind.

While serving in Iraq, Josh had suffered a traumatic brain injury and was dealing with severe PTSD. At one point it seemed that his depression and anxiety would get the better of him when the soldier decided that he had lived long enough.

Josh was planning to commit suicide.

After he had finally made the call to pull the plug on his own life, so to speak, Josh stepped outside for a last smoke.

“I did not want to deal with it anymore. I took out one of my knives … I wrote a letter on my computer and went outside to smoke one last cigarette,” the then tormented vet remembers.

This is one case where a cigarette craving was actually a good thing. When Josh went outside of his barrack in Fort Riley, Kansas, he heard a thin small “meow”. Little did he know it was the sound of an angel. One that would change life in the barracks not just for him but for all the other soldiers, too.

The sound was coming from a tiny little black and white kitten who’d been hiding out in a nearby bush.

“He just walked up and started rubbing up against my leg and let me pet him, I broke down crying, burst into tears. Maybe he knew there was something I couldn’t quite handle,” Josh says of his first encounter with the kitten in the video below.

There is no question in Josh’s mind that the kitten saved his life that night.

“I stopped thinking about all my problems and started thinking about his problems and what I could do to help him,” Josh explains after he took the stray cat in.

The kitten showed Josh that he still mattered and that his ability to care for others made an important difference. He also made the soldier realize that he could still be loved and cared for, too.

Knowing he wanted his buddy to stick around a good, long time, Josh left food out for the kitten every day. Scout normally came around like clock-work but, one day, Josh couldn’t find him anywhere. The soldier was heartbroken as the days passed and Scout never came back.

Josh would eventually have to move on, and he tried when he met a woman and the two began dating. She convinced her war-torn boyfriend to take a trip down to the animal shelter to adopt a cat. While Scout could never be replaced, Josh couldn’t deny that he had a huge impact on him. The couple thought that it would be worthwhile to check out the adoption event to see if there were any other furbabies he could connect with.

When Josh and his girlfriend got down to the event, though, Josh got the surprise of a lifetime.

The former Army Sgt. couldn’t believe his eyes when a cat batted at him with his paw and he looked over to see none other than Scout. He had found his best friend again.

“All of a sudden a little black and white paw shoots out from a crate and starts smacking me in my left arm. I opened up that cage, and I pulled him out, and I held him tight,” he joyfully recalls their unexpected reunion.

Without a second thought, Josh signed the papers for adoption there on the spot and was overjoyed to do so.

The soldier explains that Scout had initiated a real and important change in him. Being around the sweet cat made him want to do better by himself. He began working out and eating healthier, and eventually even gave up smoking, all because Scout inspired him to be the best version of himself.

After Josh was discharged from the Army for medical reasons, he married his girlfriend, Becky, and went on to do some amazing things with his life. He graduated with a Master’s degree in clinical rehabilitation and mental health counseling. He then went on to get a counseling job with the Department of Veteran Affairs, where he works with disabled veterans just like him, who are struggling to cope with post-war life.

Now, Josh shares his and Scout’s story with the other vets.

He tells them about how the sweet kitten saved him right when he needed it the most, not just once, but twice. He wants them to know that no matter how bad it gets, they are never, ever alone.

“In my opinion, real men like cats,” he says.

We would have to say that we completely agree. To hear Josh and Scout’s full story, watch the video below.

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Source: Mutual Rescue